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The heat is on, literally. Round One got through the first eight heats today with a building swell, bright, brilliant sun shinning, not a breath of wind and some of the hottest surfing Reunion has seen in years. Fred Patacchia continued his bid for Rookie of the Year, breezing through his heat against Tom Curren and fellow Hawaiian Kalani Robb. Later in the day Patacchia and partner in crime Andy Irons headed up the road for a free surf session, but thanks in large part to the overwhelming tiger shark population, they headed in after just a few waves.

One of the big highlights of the day was Mick Fanning’s performance, smooth, solid and aggressive. After coming out of the gates strong at Snapper Rocks to start the season, then stumbling a bit in the past couple events, Fanning was inform, asserting himself as a definite contender to take the event. A lot of credit goes to Cory Lopez, who after suffering a severe laceration on the bottom of his foot while free surfing several days ago manned up and gained a berth into the third round.

And then there was the man of the hour, Mr. Kelly Slater who, after absolutely throttling the competition in the last two events continued his streak by wowing the crowd with his arsenal of top turns and speed floaters, only to break his board in the remaining minutes of the heat. That’s probably why he showed up with 16 boards. Things get underway again tomorrow at 7:30, starting with Andy Irons heat. With the swell forecasted to stay on the rise until Sunday, this could be a contest for the record books.